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interior; also by feeling his way with the foreign sovereigns while

the latter; in the absence of Napoleon; by 〃singular efforts〃 and

〃assiduities〃 beforehand with Marie Louise thinks of taking the place

of the falling emperor。'67'  Prince Eugene alone; or almost alone;

among the great personalities of the reign; is really loyal; his

loyalty remaining always intact exempt from concealed motives and

above suspicion。 Everywhere else; the coming crash or sinister rumors

are heard or anticipated; alarm descends from high places; spreads

through the army and echoes along the lines of the lowest ranks。 In

1815; the soldier has full confidence in himself and in Napoleon; 〃but

he is moody; distrustful of his other leaders。 。 。 。 Every march

incomprehensible to him makes him uneasy and he thinks himself

betrayed。〃'68'  At Waterloo; dragoons that pass him with their swords

drawn and old corporals shout to the Emperor that Soult and Vandamme;

who are at this moment about going into battle; are haranguing their

troops against him or deserting him; that General Dhénin; who has

repulsed a charge of the enemy and whose thigh is fractured by a

cannon…ball; has just passed over to the enemy。 The mechanism which;

for fifteen years; has worked so well; breaks down of itself through

its own action; its cog…wheels have got out of gear; cracks show

themselves in the metal which seemed so sound; the divinations of

popular instinct verify this; the exaggerations of the popular

imagination expand it and suddenly the whole machine rattles down to

the ground。



All this is due to Napoleon having introduced into it the craving for

success as central motor; as the universal main…spring; unscrupulous

ambition; in short; a crude egoism; and in the first place his own

egoism; '69' and this incentive; strained to excess;'70' puts the

machine out of order and then ruins it。 After him; under his

successors; the same machinery is to work in the same manner; and

break down in the same way; at the expiration of a more or less

extensive period。 Thus far; the longest of these periods has lasted

less than twenty years。



_____________________________________________________________________



Notes:





'1' Most of the French provinces down to the time of Richelieu still

possessed a special representative body which consented to and levied

the taxes; most of these bodies were supported by the all…powerful

minister and replaced by intendants who; from that time on;

administered; or rather exhausted; the country; divided into thirty…

two generalities。 A few provinces; however; Brittany; Burgundy;

Languedoc; a part of Provence; Flanders; Artois; and some small

districts in the Pyrenees kept their old representative body and were

called pays d'état; whilst other provinces were designated; by a

strange abuse of language; under the name of pays d'élection。〃

(Translated from〃 Madame de Sta?l et son Temps;〃 vol。 I。; p。 38。) TR。



'2' Cf。 on the antiquity of this sort of mind; evident from the

beginning of society and of French literature; my 〃History of English

Literature;〃 vol。 I。; and 〃La Fontaine et ses fables;〃 pp。10 to 13。



'3' In relation to this sentiment; read La Fontaine's fable of 〃The

Rat and the Elephant。〃 La Fontaine fully comprehended its social and

psychological bearing。 〃To believe one's self an important personage

is very common in France。 。 。 。 A childish vanity is peculiar to us。

The Spaniards are vain; but in another way。 It is specially a French

weakness。〃



'4' Beugnot; 〃Mémoires;〃 I。; 317。 〃This equality which is now our

dominant passion is not the noble kindly sentiment that affords

delight by honoring one's self in honoring one's fellow; and in

feeling at ease in all social relationships; no; it is an aversion to

every kind of superiority; a fear lest a prominent position may be

lost; this equality tends in no way to raise up what is kept down; but

to prevent any elevation whatever。〃



'5'  D'Haussonville; 〃l'église romaine et le Premier Empire;〃 I。; chs

X。 and XI。



'6' Decree of March 17; 1808; on the organization of the Israelite

cult。  The members of the Israelite consistories and the rabbis must

be accepted by the government the same as the ministers of the other

cults; but their salary; which is fixed; must be provided by the

Israelites of the conscription; the State does not pay this; the same

as with curés or pastors。 This is not done until under the monarchy of

July; when the assimilation of the Israelite with the other Christian

cults is effected。



'7' 〃Travels in France during the years 1814 and 1815 〃(Edinburgh;

1806) I。; 176。 〃The nobility; the great landed proprietors; the

yeomanry; the lesser farmers; all of the intermediate ranks who might

oppose a check to the power of a tyrannical prince; are nearly

annihilated。〃 … Ibid。; 236。 〃Scarcely an intermediate rank was to be

found in the nation between the sovereign and the peasant。〃 … Ibid。;

II。 239。  〃The better class of the inhabitants of the cities; whether

traders and manufacturers or the bourgeoisie of France; are those who

were the most decided enemies of Bonaparte。〃



'8' Napoleon; desirous of forming an opinion of him; said to Roederer;

〃Send me his books。〃 〃But;〃 said Roederer; 〃he is only a translator。〃

〃No matter;〃 replied Napoleon; 〃I will read his prefaces;〃



'9' Cf。 the 〃Dictionnaire biographique;〃 published at Leipsic; 1806…

1808 (by Eymory) 4 vols。; and the 〃Almanach impérial〃 for 1807 to

1812; many other historic names are found there; and among these the

ladies of the palace。 In 1810; Comte de la Rochefoucauld is ambassador

to Holland and Comte de Mercy…Argenteau ambassador to Bavaria。



'10' The Revolution;〃 II。; 323。 (Ed。 Laffont I。 773; note 1)



'11' 〃The Revolution;〃 vol。 III。; PP。 318~322。 (Ed。 Laff。 II。 pp。 237…

240。)…



'12' 〃The Ancient Régime;〃 pp。 116…119; 128。 (Ed。 Laff。 I。 pp。 90…92;

100…101。)



'13' De Tilly; 〃Mémoires;〃 I。; 153。 〃The difference between the tone

and language of the court and that of the city was about as great as

that between Paris and the provinces。〃



'14' Hence the lack of success of the Maupeou parliament。



'15' See the collections of songs previous to the Revolution;

especially military songs such as 〃 Malgré la bataille;〃 …  〃Dans les

gardes fran?aises;〃 etc。  … At the time of the Restoration; the

pastoral or gallant songs of Florian; Bouffiers and Berquin were still

sung in bourgeois families; each person; young or old; man or woman;

singing one at the dessert。 This undercurrent of gayety; geniality and

amiability lasted throughout the Revolution and the Empire。 (〃Travels

through the South of France; 1807 and 1808;〃 p。132; by Lieutenant…

Colonel Pinkney; of the United States。) 〃I must once for all say that

the Memoirs of Marmontel are founded in nature。〃 He cites a great many

facts in proof of this; and testifies in all classes to a prompt and

social nature; a natural benevolence or habitual civility which leads

them instinctively; and not unfrequently impertinently; into acts of

kindness and consideration。〃 … The same impression is produced on

comparing the engravings; fashion…plates; light subjects and

caricatures of this period with those of the present epoch。 The

malicious sentiment begins only with Béranger; and yet his early

pieces (〃Le Roi d'Yvetot;〃 〃le Sénateur〃) display the light air;

accent and happy; instead of venomous; malice of the old song。 Nobody

now sings in the lower bourgeoisie or in gatherings of clerks or

students; while; along with the song; we have seen the other traits

which impressed foreigners disappear; the gallantry; the jesting

humor; the determination to regard life as so many hours (une serie de

quarts d'heures; each of which may be separated from the others; be

ample in themselves and agreeable to him who talks and to him or her

who listens。



'16' Read the novels of Pigault…Lebrun: books of the epoch the best

adapted to the men of the epoch; to the military parvenus; swift;

frank; lusty and narrow…minded。



'17' Candide (Récit de la Vieille)。



'18' 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc); chancelier de

France; Librarie Plon;  Paris 1893。 〃I am sure that his imagination

was more taken with Ghengis…Khan than with Caesar。〃



'19' 〃The Revolution;〃 II。; 12; 22。 (Laff。 I。 pp。 574; 582。) (Articles

by Mailet…Dupan; 〃Mercure de France;〃 Dec。 30; 1791; and April 7;

1792。) … Napoleon; 〃Mémorial〃 (Sept。 3; 1816); thinks so too and

states the essential characteristic of the Revolution。 This consisted

in 〃telling everybody who held office; every one who had a place or a

fortune: 'Get out。'〃



'20' Roederer; III。; 534 (January 1809; on Normandy); 〃Children in

every situation think of becoming soldiers to get the cross (legion of

honor); and the cross secures the chevalier。 The desire of

distinction; of passing ahead of some one else; is a na

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